Contesting Religious Violence and the Indigenization of Islam in Indonesia

This paper will examine the efforts of the leaders of the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama’ in addressing violence in the name of Islam. As one of the biggest socio-religious organizations, the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama’ has spearheaded the acculturalization of Islam to meet the social, political, and cultural demands of Indonesia’s multicultural communities. Abdurrahman Wahid pioneered the indigenization of Islam as the key to making Islamic teachings relevant in contemporary Indonesia and paved the way for Muslims to address critical challenges posed by sectarian and violent forms of Islam. After discussing the emerging violent conflicts in the post-Soeharto regime, the paper will examine how the leaders translate Islamic teachings into the vernacular of Indonesian Muslims. In doing so, it will evaluate how the leaders of the Nahdlatul ‘Ulama’ address the challenge of violent extremist ideology and actions by mainstreaming Islam’s virtues of tolerance, moderation, peace, grassroots peacemaking initiatives, and interfaith talk and walk.